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That stopped me. “What?”

“I have a degree in structural engineering and twelve years of community development experience.” He spread the blueprints flat again but left the ornament box beside his tape measure. “My approach is based on evidence, not business-school theory. I’m trying to save this town, Ms. Winters. I’m not trying to exploit it.”

Save was a terrible word for what he planned.

His hands made the clean villain picture harder to keep. Calluses crossed his palms and roughened his fingers. Twelve years of conference rooms had not put them there.

I looked back at his face, where the argument was, and not at his hands. “Right. Owning most of Main Street is your act of public service.”

“Those buildings were going to keep rotting. Nobody else stepped up.” Frustration broke through his control. “Do you know why property values on this block have been falling for six years? Nobody believes it is worth investing in. The vacancy rate keeps climbing because landlords would rather let buildings sit empty than maintain them for tenants they do not believe will come.” He pointed through the window toward my shop. “That foundation crack has been spreading for at least three years. The water patterns prove it. The building assessment flagged your electrical panel, and the roof will need more than another patch before next winter.”

“I know what my building needs.”

“Have you scheduled the repairs?”

I opened my mouth, but no useful lie arrived. I had kept Winters Wonderland standing with emergency fixes and optimistic timelines for years. Inventory kept the doors open. Infrastructure was what I promised to handle after one good season.

“I’m not your enemy,” he said. The softness in his voice made my defenses climb higher. “I’m trying to keep Holly Creek from becoming another Main Street that ends as a strip-mall parking lot. That requires investment. Investment requires return, and return requires⁠—”

“Making Holly Creek into something it isn’t.”

I left the ornament box beside his tape measure. I’d given it to him. Being angry didn’t make it mine again. “I’ve seen developers before, Mr. Cole. They talk about community right up until the numbers stop working. Then character buildings become condos and local businesses become coffee chains.”

“That’s not my model.”

“It never is. Until it is.” I reached the door.

“Ms. Winters.”

I stopped with one hand on the frame and turned. Morning light caught the hard line of his jaw and the dark stubble covering it. My fingers itched to find out whether it felt soft or bristly. That was rude. Broad shoulders should have been enough.

“You’re convinced I’m going to destroy what you built here,” he said. “That’s reasonable, given how this usually works. But you haven’t asked what I plan to do.”

“Because I don’t trust the answer.”

“Fair. Then don’t trust my words. Come to my presentation at the council meeting tomorrow. Look at the plans. If you still think I’m here to demolish your community, come at me with facts.”

He had moved close enough that I could smell woodsmoke on his coat and coffee on his breath. I hated that neither smell made me want to step back.

“You think you can convince me you’re different from every other developer who promised miracles and delivered parking lots?”

“I think you’re smart enough to evaluate evidence.” His gaze dropped to my mouth, then returned to my eyes. “I think you care too much about this town to let assumptions keep you from protecting it.”

“I’ve built my life in this town. These people are my family, and I’ll fight you with everything I have before I let you take that away.”

“Then fight me well.” He stepped back, and I could breathe again. “I’d expect nothing less.”

I left before I could say something I would regret. Cold air hit my face as I crossed toward Winters Wonderland. Pearl stood behind my register with the pastry box open and an expression that demanded a report. “Well? Did he like the ornament?”

“He said thank you.” I gripped the edge of the counter until my hands steadied.

Pearl’s gaze dropped to my hands. “That isn’t why they’re shaking, is it?”

“Not even close.”

“Then tell me what happened.”

“He’s infuriating. He had an answer for everything, and none of them were stupid. He knows construction. His hands—” I stopped, horrified.